Foldable hood for vehicles



M. BESSONNEAU FOLDABLE HOOD FOR VEHICLES Aug. 23, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Fil'ed Oct. 26, 1935 M. BESSONNEAU FOLDABLE HOOD FOR VEHICLES Aug. 23, 1949.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 26, 1935 H D:aaom ea ,w jitgo,

Patented Aug. 23, 1949 TATENT OFFICE V2, .1940. liDiwided' and thiSiffirIJPliGfifiOllzNOVEHlmberil6, 1939,--Sei1ial N0. 304,822. In France Oct ltob'er 27.; 19.34

I Section 3 P uhlic law 690,'*- August'8; 1946 .Batent expires October 27; 1954 I Claims.

The present invention relates to eidisappearing hood for motor vehicles adapted totravel on land nrwateror-inair, QIICidDhaS fOIitS object a 'hood combined with a marriage body and:-adapted' to .ent'mely' disappear within l the 's'aid' body, thus transformingxaninside .driving vehicle into a torpedo.

.":Another object :ormyinvention consists in such a hoodrwhich isadapted foruse with allithe known Figs. 4 and 5 are partial views-similar tOFigLlZ and respeotive'lyzshow theltopin partly closed and fully lilosed positions.

iIn-the formm'f :construction =shown, a-recess 1 whose outlet orifice -.on the =-top -part' of :the carriage bodyi-has a shapeds :formed: at the rearof the body of a amotor' -vehicle, :and the two branches of :this U-extending1along the *two lateral edges of thesaidhody.

The lframework "of .the hood comprises' a first tilt hoop 2 which, in thewoperative position :(Fig.-

1 ).,.=--bears upon :the rear edge-3 0i the recess 1 with'whicnit makes a joint,-and also three 'other divergenthoops 4, '5 and 6; whereof the-first =two, Land 5, areipivotedzto the lower-end! .of the' last hooptfi.

1 This "last hOOPUBpWhOSB' front part =forms' the upright supportiforthe-lateral :glass pane 19'; carlies the front frameworkWhichends in"aucross piece or tip l0 resting uponthe'topbf the 'windshield H. 'lDherrcovering 'consisting of a waterproof canvas l3 has its extreme ends secured respectively to thetiltihoop' landitdthe tip l9 and it may also be secured at an intermediate point to'the hoop'fi.

The following description relate's'to'the mecha nism whichzz'is sitnatedxmronmside 'of the vehicle, it being/understood that thehmechanismisituatedonltheiother side is symmetrical.

"Thehoop"? is mounted so'that it will remain practically horizontal as it forms one side of a parallelogramttrhose "other two sides consist 'o'f the iinks ifitandd 5 which are pivotallysmountd chi-horizontal pins zlsln'and l6,-' located practicaily in tiiefesame horizontal plane. The said hoep is connected hy eialink: 20 :to a: sector i 2| rotatable about: aicpivot 122 ,zandtit participates in therotationwflzsaidasector.

= The sewer I .::.is 1subjected to: the actionebf a spiral: rspring ZS -Which tends to turn it inthe iiireetion of. the'ropening iof lthe vehicl'e body-top, and its outeripierimeter is inpear-engagement ivithrapinion lzllflzwhich is =rotated by-an electric motor through" the-medium .of reduction gear combined withza frictionzcoupling 26 which limits the torque.

The wholel of'ithisrrmechahism "is mounted on a metal'iplatei 28 andimay wbe assembled before the carriage bodyl is constructed; and :may be :delivene'd asueparately the motor 2:5 being secured -to-a member?21 supporting :said plate by a collar il A guide 35 located practically according to a straight: Kline massing w' through the :axis ot the pivotn22sisprovided inith'e 'hoop 6 and is engaged byra traveliingimemher ekto whiohis pivoted a link' :32; this :latterx'being xpivoted toa *pivot 33 whichis spacedlfrom'the shaft 22,--ancl isunounted for: :instance won the zupright 3 i of: the marriage body.

A small link :36;:carried byrthe .travellingrmemher 3 i, is pivoted on a pin 31 mountedtonaigfuidmg bar -33 along *whiclra bar s9 iszslidable. The slidablesmovement 0f :the bar- 39: is controlled-by twoslinks llllland i l which are pivotedtogether at 43 so as :to Qform a toggleizjoint; :'.one link, "is pivoted about-a :horizontal pin "onz a memher' mounted on the end: of ithe 'bari39 the other link, 4.l, -is pivoted on. arpivot-ii mounted onrthe='h'oop B. :iA lever lfisispivotediatanintermediate point 51- of the link M andmpon :thezpivot 3:1 a rod"!!! is pivoted at iii-rand? also=ata, point.-"49"f0ff:the gHidingbaB'SB.

As shown in F-ig. "2, andi iniorder tOi adaptzthe hood-to an carriage 'body which"! becomes narrow towards vthe :front; the :tip xi 0 is :mountedron s the ban-.39 byrmeans -of a1 swinging piecefifl pivoted both-to said :bar and tosaidetip about 'Vertical pins 5! -and :52. The :membervM' -is wpivoted-cn-said swinging piecem}- aboutv a vertical t-pivot 53.

i'l he sliding. mouementof .the bar 39 is limited the .forward: end i of ithevgluidingerm-ds l and cooperating withaslotfifi formed-.omthe :rear end of "the bar "39. ".Thelbottom of said slotiis-incli-ned towards a rear abutment?! in such a manner that said stud 55 will gradually move back during the movement in the rear direction of the bar 39 which encounters no obstacle, the outward movement of said bar being limited by the abutment 51.

It will be noted that it will suffice to turn the sector 2! from left to right in order to fold up the whole arrangement in the recess l. The canvas is unfolded by the rotation of the sector 2| in the opposite direction, the tension of the canvas being maintained by means of the spring 23, as described in my co-pending application Serial No. 46,845, now Patent No. 2,185,581, granted Jan. 2, 1940, of which the instant application is a divislon.

The inward and outward movements of the bar 39 are controlled by the joint 40-4! operated by the sliding of the travelling members 3| along the the guide 30. Said sliding movement is controlled by the link 32 during the rotation of the hoop 6.

When opening out the hood device, the link 40 will continue to move forward after stopping of bar 39 by the contact of the stud 55 and of the abutment 51 and the member 50 will be pivoted outwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 2 so that the tip 0 will be brought forward into its definite position. At the beginning of the folding motion, the parts are brought from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 3. In this manner, the unfolded hood will correspond exactly to the trapezoidal form of the vehicle and the tip will offer no resistance to the inward and outward movements of the telescoping bar 39 and to the disappearing of the hood at the rear of the carriage within the recess I.

In order to obtain synchronism for the movements on the respective sides of the hood, the motors 25 (one being mounted on each side) are preferably motors of the series type; these are connected in series and are controlled by a reversing switch mounted on the front board.

While I have described what I at present consider preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be obvious'to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from my invention and I, therefore, aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In the combination of a foldable hood with a vehicle body which becomes narrow towards the front and includes two sets of jointed members pivoted on each side of the body respectively, a transversal tip connecting the end parts of said sets, each of said sets including a support pivoted to said body, a guiding bar carried by said support, a further bar in sliding engagement with said guiding bar, means carried by said two bars for limiting the extension motion of the whole formed by the same, a swinging member for carrying said tip pivoted both to said latter and to the end of said further bar and adapted to be displaced between a position corresponding to the folded hood in which it is substantially transversal with reference to the vehicle body and a second position in which it is substantially alined with said sliding member, a transversal pivot carried by said swinging member, and a transversal pivot carried by said support, a controlling articulated system between said two pivots adapted to control both the sliding portion of said bar and the swinging of said swinging member.

2. In a foldable hood for the body of a vehicle becoming narrow towards the front and which includes a transversal end tip and, on either side of said body, a support pivoted to said body and carrying a guiding bar, a further bar in sliding engagement with said guiding bar and an articulated controlling system pivoted to said support adapted to control the extension motion of the sliding bar, a swinging member for carrying said tip and pivoted both to the end of said sliding bar and to said tip about parallel axes which are perpendicular to the transversal direction of said body, a transversal pivot carried by said swinging member, stopping means carried by said bars for limiting said extension motion, and means mounting said articulated system for pivotal movement about said last named transversal pivot, whereby said articulated system is adapted to push said swinging members towards its outward position at the end of the unfolding motion of the hood and conversely.

3. A foldable hood as claimed in claim 2 in which said transversal pivot is supported by said swinging member so that it can pivot about an axis substantially parallel with said axes about which said swinging member is pivoted.

4. In a foldable hood for the body of a vehicle and including a transversal tip and,'on either side of the body, a support pivoted to said body, a travelling member in sliding engagement with said support, a longitudinal guiding bar carried by said travelling member, a further bar in sliding engagement with said guiding bar, and a toggle joint pivoted to said support, a swinging member for carrying said tip and pivoted both to the end of said sliding bar and to said tip about parallel axes which are perpendicular to the transversal direction of said body, a transversal pivot supported by said swinging member, stopping means carried by said bars for limiting their extension motion, and means mounting said toggle joint for pivotal movement about said transversal axis whereby said latter is both arranged to control the motions of said sliding bar and swinging member.

5. In the combination of a foldable hood with a vehicle body which becomes narrow towards the front, two sets of jointed members pivoted on each side of said body respectively, connecting means joining said sets, said set including a support pivoted to said body, a travelling member in sliding engagement with said support, a lever pivoted to said body at a point spaced from the pivot point of said support and to said travelling member, a guiding arm, a projecting member rotatably connected to said travelling member and pivoted to said guiding arm, a further arm in sliding engagement with said guiding arm, a stop adapted to limit the extension motion of the whole formed by said arms, a tip, a connecting member pivoted to said tip and to said further arm, a toggle joint between said support and said connecting member and means for rotating said support in both directions.

. MAURICE BESSONNEAU.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Bessonneau May 9, 1938 Number 

